"Your Momma is so fat..."

I dread the day my son comes home from school and tells me another kid has teased him about something. I was teased in elementary and middle school. It sucked. But, then again, this is what I looked like:

(I think I pretty much had it coming. Ugh.)

More than the fear of my son being teased is a strong desire for Toby to have a favorable opinion of me. I want to be a Mama who is fun, active, and can keep up with him. A few weeks ago, while looking at some weigh loss sites, blogs, and articles, I came across this quote:

"A year from now you'll wish you started today" - Karen Lamb

After reading it I thought to myself, "if Toby was old enough to understand, what examples would I be setting for him around health and self-care?" That was my "ah-huh" moment.

I'm not going to lie, I hate to exercise; I have to trick myself into it. I quit the gym and I quit running because the entire time I'm doing it I'm cursing it and counting down the seconds until I can be done. It's not a good time.

When it comes to my pregnancy weight loss I am giving myself a bit more mercy because I gained it over 9 months; I'm certainly not going to lose it in 8 weeks. However, I will admit I have been pretty stagnant as of late. My schedule revolves around nursing Toby and I can't do that on a treadmill so usually my a** ends up parked on our extraordinarily comfortable sofa.

After reading that quote, however, I'd had enough. I went back to see my nutritionist; I needed her to set me on the right track. When I was pregnant with Toby she made an amazing meal plan for me and I followed it to a "T" (pun intended) because I was pregnant and my diet wasn't just affecting me.

Once Toby was born, I was way less restrictive about my diet but then it occurred to me that it's not all about me. The health choices I make will affect Toby even though we are no longer sharing one body. Whether it's how I role model healthy eating and exercise, or how much energy I have to play with my son, to how long I'm around to be his Mom. All my choices affect more than just me.

So now I'm back on track. I'd like to lose 20 pounds... not because I want to be a MILF (which I do) but because I want to set a good example for my son. I pray that he likes good (healthy) food and I hope he loves being active. I completely realize that many of those good habits will develop if they are role modeled at home.

It's so interesting how much of a sense of mortality I have now that I'm a Mom. I've always been a planner, looking at the big picture, but even more so now. Every single thing I do is much more informed than it used to be.

"A year from now you'll wish you started today."

I started being a role model on May 23, 2012.